Axle-box for vehicles.



J. E. MGDANIEL. AXLE BOX FOR VEHICLES. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 10, 1909,

a'mmntoz Patented May 17, 1910.

UNITED STATES rnr canon.

S'AIMES E. MODANIEL, OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA, ASSIGNOK OF TWO-FIFTHS T0 THEODOTUS C. HAMBY AND ARTHUR W. HAMBY, OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAR'OMNA- AXLE-BOX FOR VEEKCLES.

Specification of Letters- Patent.

Patented May EN, 31916.

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, JAMEs E. MCDANIEL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Columbia, in the coiinty of Richland and State of South Carolin-a, have invented new and useful Improvements in Axle-Boxes for Vehicles, of which the following is a specifi- 631601], 1

My invention relates generally to the journal boxes of vehicles, such journal boxes-being sometimes so mounted as to permit cite a little vertical lay of the box and s with respect to the frame in which the box is mounted.

M invention relates particularly to ournal oxes for power vehicles, the em odiment which I have described herein having been designed especially for useas a driving box for a locomotive.

In locomotive construction it is the .com mon practice to mount the driving boxes between a pair of parallel jaws forming a part of the locomotive frame. As thus mounted, the boxes are called pedestal bearings. Be: tween .each side of the box, which 's usually made in two halves, and the adjacent jaw or side of the frame is placed a wearing plate for taking up the wear which would otherwise take place between the sidesot the box and the jaws. By this provision wear on the box proper during the play of the'box between the jaws is prevented thus avoiding the expense of renewing the boxes when their sides become worn, the side wearing plates being renewed instead. Another advantage of the use of the side plates rests in the fact that they may be made of anti-friction metal, thus securing a free and easy play of the box. in the use of these wearing lates, however, it has beenfound that uness inspectors keep close watch upon the boxes and renew the wearing plates assoon as excesslve lostmotion exists, the box oscillat/es from side to side of the vj aws in its vertical movement and in the forward and reverse movements of the locomotive, thus causing a very rapid. wear of the plates, which soonresults m such a pounding of the box within the frame that the parts of the box are disarranged with respect to each other and toy the shaft. What most fre-, quently hap ens is that the crown late between the s aft the up er ha f of the box on which the weight 0 the locomotive rests, is jarred from its place and drops out,

plates, but so far as I thus letting the weight down on the upper half of the box or else throwing all the weight on the balance of the driving boxes which, owing to this extra weight and the pounding caused by the defective journal ox, are themselves liable to be injured. More than one accident has been caused by Just such a defective driving box .as above .described as the pounding ma break some part of the engine in case the ocomotive is not stopped at once; Various arrangements of the ournal box and combinations of the yournal box with the wearing plates and 1awshave been devised to obviate this trouble. Certain automatic devices have also been used in connection with the box toefiect an automatic taking up of the wear of the am aware none of these have been satisfactory, and only a few have been effectual in any degree.

In one form of automatic device with which I am acquainted, use is made of a wearing plate on one side of the box in the term of a wedge, which is spring pressed to its seat between the side of the box and face of the jaw. As the box moves up and down due to the passage of the engine over rough sections of track, the wearing plate follows it being pressed closely to its seat and all wear being automatically taken up by the sprfiglbehind it. Such .a device is uite effectual in automatically taking up e wear and preventing lateral play. between the sides of the box and the jaws. But it has been found in practice that this wedge shaped plate owing to im erfect lubrication between the side of the oxand the plate will sometimes jam hard and fast between the side of the box and the adjacent face of. the jaw. The result is either that the wedge is moved solely by its engagement with the side of the box, then acting as a simple wearing plate, or else that the wedge is so jammed between the side .of the box and the face of the jaw that the box is fixed rigidly in position and cannot move. Both of these conditions are highly objectionable, and the box is as bad or worse thanif the wedge shaped plate had not been used. When the wedge jams firmly between the side of'the box and the face of the jaw, the condition is that of a box fixed in place, 'no vertical travel of the box between the pedestals and jaws being possible. That this isvery damcome this difliculty with a box provided with the automatic wedge adjustment. 1 have invented a very simple, means for use infeonnection with'the sprmg'pressed wedge whlch overcomes the difiiculty entirely, If

instead of forming one of the wearing plates as a wedge, and using this plate alone, this plate is formed as a wedge and-in addition, a wedge is used between this plate and the face of the jaw, spring pressure being applied to this latter wedge, I have found that entirely satisfactory results may be obtained. The reason for this is that the jamming and sticking together of the parts is avoided. To this end the wedge shaped wearing plate is preferably, though not neces'sarily, given a special form.

My invention will be readily understood by the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying sheet of drawings, which illustrates my invention as applied to a locomotive driving box, the view shown being a transverse section, showing all'the parts in their relative posltions.

Referring to the drawin 10 is the pedestal, depending from which are jaws 11. The driving box made up of a lower half 12 and the upper half 13 is located between the jaws 11 andsurrounds the driving shaft 15.

16 is the usual crown plate, which takes up the wear caused by the weight of the locomotive throu h the equalizers on the upper half of the ox.

14 is a wear-in plate provided between one side of the driving box .and the adjacent jaw 11. In boxes as usually constructed there are two of these wearin plates, one on each side. On the opposite side of my driving box, however, are the two wedge shaped members'17 and 18, which are reversely taered with respect to each other. Thememher 17 is the wearing plate corresponding to the plate 16 on the opposite side of the box,

but the member 18 is springpressed to its seat between the plate 17 and the face of the jaw 11, the face of the jaw being tapered as shown in order to secure a more eficient wedging action, there bein less dan er of tapered. v

19 is a spring acting on the member 1 through the intermediary of a rod 20, which passes through the voke 21 connecting the jaws 11 together and swiveled to thebot tom of the member 18. The spring is confined between the yoke 21 and an a abutment 23 on the rod 20. As thusde scribed, except for the gravity wedge or late 17 the arran ment is that previously esoribedin pointing out the defects of the ustable 7 arran ement. With the elements as 1 have deseri ed them, the gravity wedge 17 acting in connection with the spring pressed wedge 18 there is an improvement in the operation, the parts being less likely to stick together as the box moves up and down between the jaws, because there are two lubricated surfaces instead of one, as heretofore, one of these surfacesbeing between the member 17 and the' side of the box, and the other being between the member 17 and the member 18. If the side of the box-stuck to the member 17 the wedge 18 would still be free toperform its function, andif the member-17 stuck to the wedge 18 they would act in conjunction pedestal 10, above the driving box, thus,

when the driving box is carried upward as the driving wheel passes over a high place in the track the plate 17 is carried with it for a short distance until its upper end comes into contact with the pedestal l0. 7 It is thus in effect drawn away from the wedge member 18, which, while 1t follows closely with its surfaces in contact, is prevented from making .as firm a contact as might otherwise be the case. When the boxes'are moved down a ain by the shaft, the lower end of the gravity wedge 17 strikes the yoke 21 and the member 17 is held stationary while the box moves downward. There is thus little tendency to jam the parts, and even should there be a slight jamming or sticking of the parts together the downward movement of the box on the one hand and the pedestal and wedge 18 on the other causes an impingement of the lower end of the wedge. plate 17 on the yoke 21 resulting in a loosenin of the parts due to the fact that the gravity wedge 17 hasheen in effect knocked loose. In actual use this takes place continually when the engine passes over rough places, and the parts are thus kept in relative motion and work freely ,upon each other. The greatest liability to stlck exists between the gravity wedge 17' and the side of the box, there being greater relative movement betweenthese vsurfaces than between the wedge 18 and the gravity wedge. The fact that this sticking ispre vented by the striking of the gravity wedge 17 against the top and bottom of the jaws greatly increases the eficiency of my ar rangement, It is thus apparent that T have overcome the difiiculties above enumerated, and produced an automatic adjustment for a driving box, which is free from the trouble heretofore experienced, and operates in a most satisfactory manner.

While I have described the best form of my invention now known to me, it is obvious that it may be given other forms without deparating from its generic spirit, for instance, by a suitable modification my invention can be applied to a sliding journal box for use with machines of many types and power vehicles of all descriptions. Also it is evident that I may provide a difierent arrangement of springs, that I. may use means for yieldingly pressing the wedge into its socket other than a spring, and that I may provide abutments for engaging the gravity wedge which are different from the pedestal 10 and the yoke 21. All of such modifications which do not depart from the generic spirit of my invention, I desire to cover by the annexed claims.

What I claim and desire to secure by Let'- ters Patent is:

1. In combination with an axle box and a frame in which said box is slidably mounted, two wedges acting upon one another located between one side of said box and the adjacent frame, one of said wedges being yieldingly pressed into engagement with the other.

2. In combination with an axle box for power vehicles, and a frame in which said box is slidably mounted, two wedges tapering in opposite directions and engaging one another, located between one side of saidbox and said. frame, one of said Wedges being yieldingly pressed into engagement with the other.

3. In combination with an axle box for power vehicles and a frame in which said box is slidably mounted, a wedge shaped plate between one side of said box'and the adjacent face of said frame, and a yielding wedge located between the said plate and said frame.

4. In combination with an axle box for power vehicles and a frame in which said ox is slidably mounted, a wedge shaped plate between one side of said box and the adjacent face of said frame, and a spring pressed wedge located between the said plate and said frame.

through said yoke, an between an. abutment on sald rod and an 5. In combination with an axle box for power vehicles and a pair of jaws between which said box is slidably mounted, a wedge shaped plate between one side of said box and the adjacent face of one of said jaws,

and a wedge located between said plate and said frame, said wedge being yieldingly pressed into position at all times.

6. In combination with a bearing box and a frame in which said box is slidably mounted, abutments above and below said box on said frame, a wedge shaped plate on one side of said box between said box and said frame, said plate being of a length less than the distance between said abutments, and a yieldingly pressed wedge engaging said ate. p 7. In combination with an axle box for power vehicles and a pair of jaws between which said box is slidably mounted, a wedge shaped wearing plate on one side of said box, said wearing plate being of a length less than the depth of said jaws, and a yieldin'gly pressed wedge engaging said plate.

8. In combination with an axle box for 10- comotives and the pedestal jaws between which said box is slidably mounted, a wearing plate on one side of said box between said box and one of said jaws, a wedge shaped wearing plate on the other side of said box, a spring pressed wedge engaging said plate, a yoke closing the mouth of said jaws, a rod for actuating said wedge passing a spring confined abutment on said yoke.

9. In combination with a bearing box, and a frame in which said box is slidably mounted, a wearing plate which has a limit ed vertical play on one side of said box, abutments on the frame which limit the vertical play of the said plate, and a take-up member cooperating with said plate to prevent lateral lost motion between the box and the sides of the frame.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JAMES E. MoDANIEL.

Witnesses:

THEODOTUS C. HAMBY, ARTHUR W. HAMBY. 

